Faithful
by Anime1Manga2Lover3
Summary: Lian speaks to Agent Barton while he's on assignment with the Tesseract. Clint / OC Barton / OC Hawkeye / OC. Oneshot, could be continued later.


_"Restless hearts_

_Sleep alone tonight_

_Sending all my love_

_Along the wire"_

-Journey, Faithful

The pitch-darkness of the room was broken only by the glow of the laptop's screen that sat in Lian's lap. Her dark green eyes, pupils wide to capture the meagre light, flitted over the screen as she took in the words. A soft smile curled across her lips as she began to type a reply, fingers automatically finding the correct keys without her needing to look. Years of computer experience had assured her the ability to type with no mistakes.

Lian pressed enter and leaned back onto a pile of soft pillows that enveloped her head, wafting a soft scent of lavender up her nose as she sighed. What she was doing was technically illegal, but she didn't fear the repercussions of being caught. She'd gotten out of her fair share of scrapes before, and this time she had an inside man to help her. But she doubted she would be found out. Every precaution had been taken to hide the communications from S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. would surely love to get it's hands on her. To them, she was known only by the name "God" and her deeds. Not an altogether original name, but she had had a whimsical flash when she first began signing her work. Her "work," as she called it, was not the most savory of jobs, although she did take great enjoyment in it. No, she was not the spy or assassin that usually got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. What she did did not result in peoples' deaths - at least, not directly.

Lian, "God", was a hacker slowly rising to fame. It had started out when she was in high school, when she had learned how to control the teacher's computer from afar. From there, it had been only a short leap towards bigger conquests. She began to be approached by people seeking her services in college. At first she declined, wary of the consequences of the criminal activity, but soon the adrenaline rush a successful hack provided became too much to resist.

Meeting Agent Clint Barton had been a stroke of luck for her. Quiet and solitary, they met at a coffee shop of all places. Lian, who was a loner by nature, had found herself inexplicably fascinated by the mysterious man who sat alone in the corner with a somewhat militaristic demeanor. Whispers on the internet led to her discovery of S.H.I.E.L.D. and subsequent reading of certain classified personnel files.

They saw each other more, became friends, and soon enough there was a moment when she had told Clint how she felt about him. Her feelings were reciprocated, and their secret relationship began. Of course, Clint would tell Fury if he directly asked about her, but if he didn't, there was no reason for him to reveal that particular piece of information. As far as either of them knew, no one in S.H.I.E.L.D. knew about them.

When Clint was away on missions, which was quite often, they would communicate by an instant messaging program designed by Lian herself. It was secure, possibly the most secure instant messaging program in the world, and they could speak freely on it. Well, mostly freely.

**The thing is acting strangely.**

The "thing" Clint referred to was a top-secret item - the Tesseract. Even on such a protected program, they dared not speak of S.H.I.E.L.D. matters openly.

**What's it doing?**

Technically Lian wasn't supposed to know about the Tesseract, or even about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence, but rules had never stopped her.

**They say it's putting out gamma radiation. Nobody's messed with it from our end, so it must be from the other side.**

**You're safe though. Right?**

Lian didn't usually care for others, but Clint was one of her exceptions.

**Of course I am. Director Fury's coming. I'll talk to you later.**

**See you soon, Clint.**

****Clint exited the chat and closed her laptop, plunging the room into complete and total darkness. The Tesseract gave her a bad feeling deep in her gut, and she had learned to trust that feeling. But if she warned Clint or S.H.I.E.L.D., her secret could be revealed, and she would probably face arrest. So she buried her thoughts and placed her laptop on her bedside table. Clint was safe. He would return. That she was sure of.

**AN: I know, I know, I should be working on my John / OC story, but I have serious writer's block on that... so I did this... don't kill me *puppy dog eyes*. I could continue this, later, if I have time, and inclination, and yeah. So review? Please? :D**


End file.
